MUNICH.- Herlinde Koelbl is one of Germanys most renowned photographers and producers of documentary films. This exhibition at the Münchner Stadtmuseum displays her multifaceted works. Special emphasis is placed on her photo series Das deutsche Wohnzimmer [The German Living Room] which was started in 1980 and portrays people from different social strata inside their living rooms.

Similar in topic is her 2002 work Schlafzimmer [Bedrooms]. For this series, Herlinde Koelbl traveled to numerous international metropolises to photograph inhabitants in their most private of refuges. The depictions of the male body in her book Männer [Men] which was published in 1984 combine sensuality with aggression.

The photographer also takes an unusual and entirely new look at the naked female body. Her book Starke Frauen [Strong Women] shows not the common image of the beautiful and slim woman but showcases models whose aesthetics are derived from their full bodies, vitality and presence. With her 1986 work Feine Leute [Fancy People: High Society], Herlinde Koelbl paints a picture that dissects the mores of high society.

A few years later she created the 1989 photography series Jüdische Porträts [Jewish Portraits] in which the artist portrayed, in pictures and text, Jewish personalities from all over the world who had exerted an influence on Germanys spiritual and cultural heritage. Over an eight year period starting in 1991, the photographer also captured the Federal Republics political and economic elite in her series Spuren der Macht [Traces of Power].

Herlinde Koelbls projects carry her unconventional and unmistakable artistic signature. Courageous candor and uncompromising clarity are her style. Her pictures convey a sense of intensive involvement with the subject, a sharing of intimate moments, and they fascinate the viewer with their forceful imagery.